T-31 weeks: "What would Papa say?"

Dear Papa, and dear Reader,

What a beautiful fall weather week this was in DC! I love this season, when the leaves are falling and the colors of nature just take your breath away. It's not really that cold yet, except for the mornings, so for my earlier morning runs I was already wearing a long sleeve and long leggings. I think the gloves will be the next addition to the outfit this coming week.

Jim is unfortunately still sick, so we only did one ride together on Monday through a leafy Rock Creek Park. I did another indoor ride on the trainer mid-week and a long ride with friends on the weekend, totaling 4:45h and 85 miles of riding this week. Running-wise, I went on two short runs with Rachael (a total of 7 miles in 1:15h), and I managed to get to the pool twice on Friday and Saturday for two shortish but great swims for a total of 4,000 yds and 1:15h.

The training highlight of this week was easily the team ride on Saturday out in Poolesville. We did two loops, the first one party pace and stops with anyone interested, and the second loop just myself and Coach Christina with a few solid pushes. It was such a gorgeous day out there, chilly enough to wear a base layer and arm warmers, but still warm enough to feel super pleasant. We rode down rural roads while the leaves were falling like rain around us, and did some punchy climbs that got my legs and lungs working. An all-around great ride!

After that, I went to a county pool close by our route that I hadn't been to in Germantown, which turned out to be a great facility. I had to giggle when only 30 minutes into my swim, my legs started cramping as I pushed off the wall. That tells me that the ride was a great effort. Way to get me going, Coach!

It's weird to be off-season right now. On the one hand, I really enjoy not having to get up before dawn every day and doing the workouts that I want to be doing instead of having to stick to a rigid plan. It gives me a lot of ease, and I mentally need that before going back into full training mode in December. On the other side, I'm already pumped for the Ironman race next year! I loaded the training plan into my calendar, I'm thinking through any additional gear I might need for the longer rides and runs during training, and I've also started to get the word out about IM Hamburg and what a great race it is. I thought I heard a sliver of interest in Coach's response yesterday. Maybe there's a chance that I can motivate her or someone else to do it with me? That would be amazing!

We have another super highlight going on right now: Jim's daughter Anna, her husband Colten, and her little baby girl Vera are staying with us as they are moving into their new place in Arlington next week! It is so precious to have them here, to hang with little Vera, who is just the cutest little sunshine ever, and to watch them be parents.

It's beautiful to see Colten be so in love with his little girl. I keep thinking about the daddy-daughter relationship and what that means to both. I found this picture of you and me when I was about the age that Vera is now. We were such buds always! I wish there were more pictures of you and me, but ironically, you were mostly the one behind the camera trying to capture all these precious moments, so we have a ton more photos of Mama and us. But this picture, amongst others, is precious to me. I love the way you look at me and how we're just hanging out in the hammock. You were such a great dad, at any age, and at any point in my life!! I miss you so much!

Today, someone talked about their dad passing 10 years ago, and about the fact that she still thinks about him almost every day! I hope it will be the same with you - I want that in my life. I want to keep asking myself, "what would Papa say if he saw this?" I want to still have those urges of picking up the phone to call you, even though the moment of realization is always painful, but it makes me think of you. That way, you're still always around me!

I love you, Papa! Thanks for sending all the good weather. Keep doing that for another little while!

Until next week,

Kathrin

P.S. Dear Reader, if you have comments, questions, memories, or thoughts to share, please leave a comment (and leave your name in the comment so I know who it's from). I would love to hear from you!

Go to the full list of blog posts or read more about the project Ironman for Papa